Charge forming device



B. DRYSDALE CHARGE FORMING DEVICE Oct. 9, 1945.

Filed May 6, 1944 INVTOR.

BOB 'DRYsoALE BY 'WAJ v .ATTURNBY Patented Oct. 9, 1945 UNITED STATE-S PAT E'NT OFFICE.

CHARGE FORMING DEVICE Bob. Drysdale, Sunnyvale, Calif. Application May 6, 1944, Serial No. 534,478

6 Claims.

This invention relates to the fueling of internal. combustion motors, and more especially to a method and means for operating gasoline enines with Diesel or fuel oil.

An object of the invention is to provide a method and means for operating the ordinary gasoline-driven motor of automobiles, trucks,

tractors, marine engines, and the like, with inexpensive non-rationed Diesel or fuel oil, in lieu of gasoline.

Another object is to provide such a means which is readily adaptable to convert existing power units now running on gasoline or other relatively-expensive fuel, to operate satisfactorily with cheap Diesel or fuel oil.

A further object is to'accomplish the above without material change to the gasoline carburetor or other. essential operating parts of existing assemblies, to so make the invention easily installable as an attachment.

Yet another object isto rovide such a method and means for this purpose, which will not lessen and. will preferably increase the power of the motor by substitution of the heavier crude oil, will give equal or better performance, for instance, as regards rapid pick-up of speed, ability to climb hill or drag heavy trailers or other loads, and which will not foul the spark plugs with carbon deposit, or the valves or cylinders, and which will not substantially increase smoking from the exhaust.

Finally, an object is to accomplish all such purposes by a means employing simplev cheap parts which are easily made. and quickly installed by the ordinary mechanic, which have a long life, need little or no adjustment or maintenance, and which may be designed in a. few sizes to accommodate many difierent conditions and motor sizes and arrangements.

All these. and other objects as suggested herebelow, are attained by the method and means now to be described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view, largely in outline, showing the heat-enclosing containers. over carburetor and manifold attached to the side of the engine block of an ordinary gasolineengine, and which containers comprise an essential element of this invention.

Fig. 2- i a side perspective view of the conair pipe leading from the. manifold'to thecarbw.

retor and showing positioned therein the reducer plate. for limiting the amount. of Warm air to the carburetor, to aid its successful functioning on the heavier fuel.

Fig. 5 is a side sectional detail view of the needle valve in the auxiliary, or gasoline start ing, fuel line, and which is operable by remote control from the dashboard, if installed in a motor car.

And Fig. 6 is a top plan View, showing the hinged doors to regulate the cold air entering the front of the manifold container or chamber, with operating leverage for opening or closing them. in opposite directions, in order to center the air-flow.

Like. numerals refer to like parts throughout the several Views.

This drawing. was made from photos of a typical installation of the invention. as applied to a, Chevrolet car of a somewhat. older model, after it had been in constant use thereon for a mileage equivalent of, some two years driving; it was still in perfect. running order, andhad never required any attention. With ordinary Diesel oil, at about 6 a gallon, it made 20 miles on a, gallon, compared to about 17 mileswhen the car (sans invention) used gasoline. And gasoline cost 2% times more, and was war-rationed. The car started as readily, picked up as fast, climbed or dragged a load as well, sooted the motorparts no more, and smoked no more than when operated solely on gasoline. Other installations, made on other cars and motors, worked aswell; 1

In Fig. l is shown, in outline, the top of a gasoline motor Ill, the container II which fairlyclosely encloses its carburetor, and the container l? which fits around the engine manifolds. Container [2 is preferably open on the side adjacent the motor, its edges being substantially in contact therewith. The Diesel or fuel oil line H is shown here entering the top of container 1'2, going down through it, and cominginto container H to its carburetor from below. There is also shown an inlet pipe I3. for gasoline, fed to the carburetor for starting, as explained below, and coming from a small tank of a quart or more capacity, preferably, which tank may be located conveniently intlie carstrunk, under the dash,

-most effective operation.

or at other convenient place relative to the motor.

In Fig. 2 is shown the water hose connection 15 to the radiator in front, from the motor block It; also one type of door [6 hinged to swing open and closed over the front open end of container l2, to regulate the amount of cold air blown by the movement of the car, etc., into manifold container l2; also a linkage connection iT-connectme said door with a-manual operating knob l9 extending through the dashboard l8 for convenient operation by the driver. Door It may also be operated automatically by means of a heatcontrolled thermostat 20, either alone, or in com.- bination with said manua1 control. The details of such thermostats for effecting movement by heat changes are well known by those skilled in the art, and hence the detail are omitted. In stationary installations, cold air could enter through the front of the manifold with the aid of a, driven fan, alone. i

In Fig. 3, the edge of the top member of container H is indicated by the line Ila, the front II b has been bent back to the ,left to show the carburetor and parts within, the front side is I lo, the back is lld, the rear wall is shown in Fig. 2 at He, and the open bottom is attached, as by flanges, to top member 12a of manifold container 12, the front wall of:which has been removed to show the parts within.

The standard gasoline carburetor is shown at 2|. The air cleaner, normally attached to its top opening or air inlet, is first removed, and an air inlet pipe 22, which may be made of sheet metal, connects manifold container 12, through its top [2a, to the top of carburetor 2]. The auxiliary gasoline line 13 is tapped into the carburetor, as shown, at a point below, or toward the motor, from its butterfly valve 2 la, this being important. The drawing shows the carburetor wall broken away at this point to show this needed relation of valve and gas inlet. Pipe l3 leads to theauxiliary' gasoline or starting tank, and admission of gasoline for starting the cold motor is effected by means ofa conventional needle valve 24, Fig. 5, in gas line l3, operated by the standard choke wire 23 and pull-out knob 24 extending through dash l8. Thus'the operator uses the normal choke knob in the usual way for starting, but the choke being no longer needed or connected, he instead introduces a little starting gasoline direct tothe motor fuel intake manifold.

=Since the normal air cleaner has thu been omitted, it may be desirable to provide a cleaner 25, Fig. 2, shown dotted, near the front end of manifold container or heat chamber I 2, inside door 16. Or some other positioning of it might prove more desirable, in some instances.

It will be noted that the Diesel or main fuel oil line [4, Fig. 3, is led through chamber I2 to thus warm the oil, normally, before entering the carburetor.

Pipe 22 is pierced near its upper end by two diametrally-positioned slots, and lugs 26a of a reducer plate 26, Fig. 4, extend through these slots an equal distance, where they may be then bent overito hold plate 26 centrally in pipe 22. Thus, it will be noticed,plate 2t has a main central opening as well as side openings near the pipewall. This permits the warm air to be fed directly to the centrally-positioned jet of the carburetor, as well as directly to the side-positioned jets, for The inner and other diameter of thisplatawhich; fay be formed of sheet metal, may be varied at ill, until one size ture, needed with the lower-grade fuel, and also.

has been found for best running conditions with a particular make of motor. It may also be adapted to the jet positions of different carburetors.

Container l2 closely encloses the manifolds of the motor, the exhaust manifold being shown at 21.

While in Fig. 2 one door It has been shown, for general illustration, to regulate the cold air intake to the heating chamber, a probably more effective arrangement is shown intop elevation in Fig. 6. Here there are two doors 2B, 29 sideby-side, pivoting about central pins 28a, 29a top andbottom, with short keyed links 30, 3| extending oppositely at some 45 degrees thereto, their free ends pivotally connected by link 32, which in turn isconnected to control rod 11, Fig. 2.

It will of course be understoo that for adjusting thecarburetor without removing container ll, either a door will be provided in the front wall, or at least a screw driver hole 33, Fig, .2.

The two container covers are preferablymade of thin sheet iron, maybe 26 or 28 gauge, to permit warming up the air quickly without storing too much of the heat in said walls. The covers need not be tight.

, Since there is a vacuum in the'carburetor at the point where gasoline line l3 enters, the gasoline supply'need not be'positioned to be fed thereto by gravity.

. With this invention installed on a standard automobile, the operation is as follows:

Put out the choke knob 24 (now gasolineh A back knob 24, and the motor continues to run on the Diesel or fuel oil which now fills the main (or old) gasoline tanktit not only runs on this fuel, but idles on it as well. When starting, door 16, Fig. 2 (or doors 28, 29, Fig, 6 as an alternate) are closed, either manually or thermostatically when the motor is cold. When the motor reaches normal temperature, as after traveling a mile or so, these doors, always slightly open, open or are opened fully.

There is never any danger of flooding the motor, because the former choke valve isnow disconnected. And if you fail to return the gasoline knob 24 after starting, the motor will warn you by loping, as it didformerly with the choke. Knob I9 is an extra, mounted on the dash Hi to operate by wire H the door or doors (16, or 28, 29) at the air entrance of manifold heat chamber l2. But by introducing thermostat 20, this part and its operation may be dispensed with.

The design of reducer plate 25, Fig. 4, not only prevents clogging, but effectively delivers air, warmed, to the high speed jet, normally in the center, and to theintermediate jets, placedalong the carburetor wall, I

' The operating Diesel oil is not heated, but merely warmed by having its pipe pass through the chamber I2 which is warmed by the hot manifold exhaust pipe which it encloses. Only the air is heated in passing through this chamber, so there is entire absence of any danger.

Plate 26 serves to reduce the area ofthe airinlet pipe to reduce the supply of warmed air going to the carburetor to thus enrich the'mixto speed up the flow of the heated air for better combustion, and more rapid pick-up. N needle valve sizes or other changes are made to the standard carburetor, an important point.

The warmed air from chamber I2 is doubly insulated against heat loss both by pipe 22 and surrounding chamber H. The fuel is mixed in the carburetor in this warm environment, and passes pre-heated to the motor in the form of an explosive mixture, to act as well as gasoline.

The invention costs little, and can be installed by any mechanic in about two hours. An a few sizes will fit all cars, etc.

Having now described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which Letters Patent of the United States is desired, is:

1. A means for operating a gasoline engine on fuel oil, including a heat-containing air chamber around the engine manifolds, another likepurpose chamber around the carburetor, a pipe connecting the chamber first-mentioned and the carburetor air intake to supply heated air thereto, and means for introducing raw gasoline direct to the inlet manifold of the engine for the purpose of starting only.

2. The invention as in claim 1, including remote control means for varying the amount of air entering the heat-containing chamber.

3. The invention as in claim 1, including thermostatically-controlled means for varying the amount of air entering the heat-containing chamber.

4. The invention as in claim 1, including means in the air-intake to the carburetor for reducing the volume of air flowing, and increasing its speed of flow.

5. Means for converting a gasoline carburetor to one using fuel oil, including a pipe supplying heated air through the usual air cleaner opening, and means on said pipe for both reducing the amount of air passing through and also increasing its speed.

6. In combination, means for introducing air around a heated exhaust manifold of an internalcombustion motor, means for regulating the amount introduced automatically and thermostatically by means of the heat of the motor, means for cleaning the cold air before heating it, means for passing the heated air to the carburetor of the motor, fuel oil feeding mean to the carburetor for running, and gasoline feeding means to the carburetor-outlet for starting. 

